Safety device for brakes



Jan. 28, 1930. E 'BUGATT| 1,744,748

SAFETY DEVICE FOR BRAKES Filed Dec. 30, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 28,1930. E. BUGATTI SAFETY DEVICE FOR BRAKES Filed Dec. 30, 1927 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 28, 1930 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICESAFETY DEVICE FOR BRAKES Application fled December 30, 1927, Serial No.243,614, and in France January I, 1927.

My invention relates to a safety device for use with brakes of the typewhich are controlled by means of cables or chains.

The objects of the invention will be readily discernible by thoseskilled in the art from the .followin description when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing forming part-of thisspecification and in which 7 Fig. l is a diagram illustrating the typeof brake system to which the invention is ap licable;

ig. 2 is an elevational view of the safety device associated with abrake of the type shown in Fig. 1; FFig. 3 is-a section along the line3-3 of ig. 4 is a detail showing the position of the parts of the safetydevice during rupture of the cable; and

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of a modified form of safety device foruse with'rigid brake rods.

As is well known in the art, front and rear brakes are frequentlycontrolled by a continuous cable after the manner schematically setforth in Fig. 1.

This arrangement although efiicient presents grave disadvantages.In'case of rupture of the cable the brakes on one side become suddenlyinoperative and the force applied to the brake lever or pedal whichpreviously acted on the four wheels becomes annulled completely, notonly on theside where rupture of the cable has occured but also withrespect to the four wheels due to the action of the connecting rod orother compensating arrangement which normally balances the right andleft hand brakes. Consequentl there being no braking resistance on thesi e where the cable has ruptured, the unbroken" cable becomes slack'and as a result operative.

The safety device forming the subject matter of the present inventionhas for an object to remedy the disadvanta ,above enumerated, byroviding the cafil zwith a collar disposed ting members so that thecollar, in case of rupture of the cable, is arrested by one or the alsointween two fixed stops or abut brake control cable a is attached atitsextremities to the brake control levers a and passes over and under twoulleys g, g mounted on the extremities o a two-armed lever g fixed to abi ke lever Zor other manually controlled element such as a brake pedalin certain cases. Fixed to the cable between the two ulleys g is acollar b of elongated form. 'Fhe cab e a passes through twosto orabutment members 0, 0 carried by e lever g and the said abutment membersare so disposed with respect to the length of the collar 6 that aninterval exists between each of the said members and the respectiveextremity of the said collar in order to properly balance the cable as aresult of loose fplay therein due to'the unequal wearing o the front andrear brakes.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious to those skilled inthe art that if-the cable should break between the pulley g and thecontrol lever a, the upper surface of the collar 6 will come intocontact with the stop 0 (Fig. 4) and the cable will remain operativelvconnected to the front wheel brake and the braking of the said wheelwill not be destroyed. If on the other hand the cable a should breakbetween the pulley 1 and the control lever a, the lower sur ace of thecollar 6 will come into contact with the stop a and the cable a willremain. oper;

' atively connected to the rear wheel brake,

which still makes possible the braking of the said rear wheel and of thetwo wheels on the opposite side of thefvehicle due to' the arrangementof the cross connecting rod or differential with which all vehicleshaving simultaneouslyacting four-wheel brakes are provided.

Fig. 5 shows the embodiment of Figs. 2 to 4 just described modified foruse with rigid brake rods. As therein shown the brake rods h are eachconnected to a compensating bellcrank lever 2' which in turn isconnected to a compensating connecting link 70, the said levers i beingconnected at each extremity of the link 70. A collar is fastened to thelink is by means of a set screw m. The said link extends through twostops it carried by a hand lever l as before. The operation of thisembodiment is analogous to that previously described. If either of therods h, the compensating levers z or either outer portion of the link Itshould become broken, the collar 7' abuts against one of the stops itand permits at least one of the front and rear wheel brakes to beapplied as previously described.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a brake control of the t pe describedhaving front and rear wheel rake control levers and continuous flexiblemeans interconnecting said levers, the combination of means for causingsaid flexible means to operate said levers simultaneously and meansassociated with said last mentioned means for assuring operation of atleast one of said front control levers and one of said back controllevers upon rupture of said flexible means.

2. In a brake control of the type described having front and rear wheelbrake control levers and a continuous cable interconnecting said levers,the combination of means for causing said cable to operate said leverssimultaneously and means associated with said first mentioned means forassuring operation of at least one of said front control levers and oneof said back control levers upon rupture of said cable. I

3. In a brake control of the type described having front and rear wheelbrake control levers and a continuous cable interconnecting said levers,the combination of a pivotally mounted two-armed lever, a pulley carriedby each arm of said lever and engaging said cable on opposite sidesthereof and means associated with said cable between said pulleys forassuring operation of at least one of said front control levers and oneof said back control levers upon rupture of said cable.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

ETTORE BUGATTI.

4. In a brake control of the type described

